Special thanks to my Beta, DevynQ!
Lying on her bed, Angela stared up at the ceiling. It was raining outside, but that wasn't what woke her up. The bed was too soft, and the army of stuffed animals on the shelves were staring at her. Even Mr. Teddy, the beloved bear that used to be her best friend when she didn't have any. She turned over on her side, her back facing him, and tried to fall unsuccessfully back to sleep.
It never rained this much in Seattle, she thought. But it was a bit nostalgic for her, too. Instead of music blasting from paper-thin walls, and people laughing and driving by outside, her window pane clicked as rain drops fell.
It was a lot quieter in Forks than she remembered. Then again, she had just come from one of the biggest, busiest cities in the western United States. It made her uneasy, as if someone was going to jump out of her closet.
The sunlight peaking in the dripping window, Angela gave up on catching up on any more sleep and reached for her phone. Flipping through the other messages she'd ignored, she read, "ok ill give u space. text me later xo," the last text Kyle sent her before she went to bed.
Her fingers rubbed against the edges of her cell phone before tucking it back under her pillow. She felt terrible about not responding, but something had changed in her mood as soon as she got out of her car in front of her parent's house.
It wasn't as if she hadn't visited them during her time in school, but it was the fact that it was a "this is it" moment. It was the last time she would step into the house as a college student. Only she wasn't in college anymore. There were no more classes to get up early for. No more weekend frat parties. No more spending all-nighters with a study group. No more terrible cafeteria food. There was now only her family in a two-story house with the classic white picket fence.
There was a painful twist in her stomach when she remembered saying goodbye to her roommate for two years.
"Don't forget to pick up your fucking underwear at home," Ren said as she nearly hugged Angela to death.
"That's you," she had joked.
"Oh, yeah. Still. Text me to remind me." Their broken laughter made the goodbye even harder.
It was worse with her boyfriend. Her skin still prickled when she thought of him. Or of his texts he'd send her constantly just because.
Getting up out of her frilly bed, disgusted at the décor of her early teen years, she walked to the bathroom to get something to alleviate her early morning headache. A headache already? And her parents weren't even nagging her yet. Palming a few pills, she swallowed them with urgency.
Why was she freaking out? Gripping the bathroom counter, she inspected herself in the mirror absentmindedly. It wasn't like she'd never see any of her friends ever again.
Right, with Ren going back to State for her graduate degree and Kyle moving back to San Jose.
Kyle…
She should be texting him. Hell, she should be calling him. Making plans to take the next step, and maybe even live with him. But all she had the energy to do was stare at a mirror and deny the fact that she was upset about any of it.
Back at Forks, things were so different. Of course, taking a four year leave of absence, it would be weird if everything was exactly the same.
...Well, most of it was. There was still that rusty "Welcome to Forks!" sign with the incorrect amount of people. There was the same old, cranky men than herded into the diners and talked about hunting and fishing over their coffee. And there were the same bored, pale students that filed in and out of the high school, the only difference being their faces.
So, she hadn't left anything behind, really. All of it was already there for her, to welcome her back.
It suffocated her.
College had been the open door she hadn't been aware was there until it swung open and led her in. She changed. Time passed, and she'd become a completely different person. Maybe.
As if to prove a point, she ruffled her hair. It was bouncy, and black. She was grateful that the highlights she got in high school were finally gone. She still needed glasses, though. She squinted, leaning forward. Needed a new prescription, too.
She thought of the people she had left behind. She wondered how many people were still here in the minute and insignificant town of Forks. Though she met a lot of new people at State, she hadn't taken much time to think about the people who used to be a big part of her life. It felt silly now, to think of them when it had been so long since she'd seen any of them: Bella. Jessica. Lauren, though she could hardly be qualified as a friend. Tyler. Eric, and... She sighed. Ben. Jesus, that huge jerk.
A small mewl followed by a furry, miniature beast weaving through her legs, she looked down and smiled. Her cat, Gail, purred when Angela bent down to pet her. Another thing she had missed while away: her annoying but adorable cat that she's had since she was twelve.
"Alright, alright," she mumbled as Gail squeaked. "I'll feed you. Alright, already..." She cast once last look at her reflection before turning off the light.
After pouring kitty mix in the bowl, before even pouring herself a cup of coffee, Gail chirped her gratitude at her. "You're a bully," Angela said, but pet her affectionately.
Once she finally poured herself a cup of coffee, she began to feel almost human.
"Feelin' okay, kiddo?" Angela shrugged at her father as he poured himself a cup and sat across from her. He usually woke up first thing in the morning to read. But it was nice to be accompanied by him as the rest of the house slept. It made her feel less alone. "Did you sleep okay?"
"Yeah," she said, and her father nodded at her. "Just...new bed and all. Not used to being in an actual bed instead of on a plastic mattress."
"We can always switch it out with an air mattress."
"No, I think I'm good. I like not having a crooked spine." She smirked over the lip of her mug, catching sight of the newspaper he had brought. "Do you have any - " Before she could finish her sentence, her father lifted the comics page from the bundle out to her. She grinned, flipping through the colorful pages to read her favorite ones.
Enjoying each other's company in those few early morning moments made her miss home. A small part of her was sad she missed out on so many of these times she could have spent with him.
"So, are you planning on going out today?"
Frowning from her seat, Angela raised an eye brow. "No... Why?"
Her dad shrugged, rinsing out his mug before putting it in the dishwasher. "I dunno. You haven't seen some of your friends for a while."
"Oh." She shrugged. "I don't know who's still here..."
"Jessica's still here," he said. Of course he would know - the town was so small, that if someone sneezed, everyone would say "bless you." "She's living with Mike Newton - " Expected. " - and Lauren is working at that one restaurant you like..."
"Olive Garden?"
"No. Chuck E. Cheese," he teased. His glasses were crooked and it made his expression even funnier.
"Dad." She rolled her eyes then scrunched her nose. "Lauren works at Chuck E. Cheese?" She could just imagine how terrible it would be for any child to get on her bad side.
"Yep." He leaned against the counter. "Bella's still here."
"Yeah..." She wracked her brain for anything she'd seen online. "She's going to Peninsula right?" Which was strange, because Angela would have never pegged Bella as the community college type. She was really smart, probably even smarter than Angela, and more than qualified to go to any university of her choosing. Why she chose to stay behind was beyond her, though the people in La Push might have something to do with it. One in particular, in fact: Jacob Black.
"You should give 'em a ring," he advised. The corner of her mouth lifted up to match her father's own smirk. Funny how her dad gave her advice to better her social life.
"Nobody calls anyone anymore," she said.
"Hmph. Right. You kids should change that; there's nothing better than being able to hear a human voice as if it was right next to you."
"That's not creepy at all, Dad." He laughed, pecking the top of her head.
"I'm going to the office," he said. "I'll try to be home before dinner."
"Okay," she said, already depressed at the thought of him leaving.
"I'm glad you're home, honey." They grinned at each other before he grabbed his bag and Bible. "See you later this evening!"
"Bye," she called out, replied by the slam of the front door.
Sitting there a few moments more, she sipped at her lukewarm coffee. It had gotten cold but she didn't feel like putting any effort in getting up to heat it in the microwave so she bared through the bitter, cold liquid. After finishing the cartoons, she balled them up in her hand and tossed it at the trash bin. A miss. Gail sniffed at it before losing interest and padding under the table, right next to Angela's feet, before curling up and purring.
"Brat," she teased before getting up to put her own mug away.
Angela was admittedly nervous of leaving the house and facing anyone she would know. Most people probably wouldn't care if they knew she was back, though she knew of one person that might. But it was probably a stupid idea - she might not even have the same number. But still...
Collecting her phone in her hand, she stared at it a moment before flipping through her contact list. Should she call, or text? She thought back to what her father said, but convinced herself to text first. After all, how annoying would it be to be woken up by a phone call?
"hey its angela here. wanted to know if u still had this number? heard you were still around! if you wanted to get together sometime let me know"
Nervous, she deleted the "heard you were still around" - she wanted to sound friendly, not creepy. But who knew when Bella would even get to it? She half wished she didn't have the right number; it would be a good excuse to stay inside.
"Stay inside?" What are you, a vampire?
The house still in it sleep stupor, Angela went back to her room, Gail trailing after her. Pulling out her dinosaur lap top, she waited for it to start up, rumbling as the lights clicked on. After petting the cat long enough to put her to sleep beside her, she browsed a bit. Nothing new on Facebook, and Twitter was an onslaught of gossip and emoticons. Checking her mail, a grin spread across her face.
From: Ren Parker
To: Angela Weber
Ange,
It's already day one without u keeping me up with ur snoring & I miss ur dumb ass. I think I might have to get one of those sleep-noise CD things. Like how there's one of the ocean & jungles & shit? I need one of u snoring. I cannot have a restful nights sleep without getting woken up in the middle of the night. Record urself & send it to me. I expect ur full compliance or else the rabbit gets it.
Okay. Bye.
Ren xo
Just as Angela was clicking the "reply" button, she jolted at a knock on her door. Her mother's head poked in, a furrow already in her brow and her mouth pinched in worry. "Ange, you're up. Are you busy?"
"No," she said, closing her mail.
"Good - can you do me a favor and run the boys down to band practice? I need to make a few errands." Already kissing the top of Angela's head briskly without waiting for a reply, she grinned at her. "Missed you."
"Yeah, you too." She had grown used to her mother's impersonal attitude - it wasn't personal, it was just how she functioned. Always busy and always in her head, contrasting her patient and temperate husband. The atypical polar opposite parents.
After her mom hurried off and Angela shut down her lap top, she slipped on her shorts and shirt, ruffling her hair in front of the mirror in her room for a moment. Small black clumps collected on the corners of her eyes, which she wiped away lazily. She wasn't a big fan of makeup, but she liked her eyes when they were defined by eye liner or some mascara. It made them seem bigger behind her glasses.
They ate breakfast, which was quiet as her brothers slowly woke up over their cereal. After drinking her second cup of the morning, Angela hustled them out of the house.
Josh taking the back seat, he ignored the two as he messed around with the iPhone in his hands. Angela was grateful Issac sat next to her; she always felt as if she connected with him better. He was quieter than his twin, and he was easier to deal with than the messy hoarder in the backseat.
"How was college?" Issac asked, the same question he asked every time she came home. It was weird to think that this would be the last time he'd ask her.
"Fun. You'll like it."
The twins were entering their senior year of high school, and Issac was already accepted into State. Josh hadn't thought of college yet, or at least that was what he told everyone who asked. Angela suspected he wasn't interested in it at all, not that she'd ever tell her parents; they expected so much out of their children that the thought of one of them not going to college would give them a heart attack. Her father already wanted Issac to take Theology.
"I hope so," he said, not sounding certain at all. She couldn't blame him. The work was hard, and almost worth the sweat and tears.
It had been so long since Angela had seen the outside of her high school that she felt like she had traveled back in time and was facing the building still as a student. Everything about it was typical, nothing special and nothing had changed over the years. It was still old and dark and depressing.
The welcoming sign had been replaced with an electronic one, however, one that broadcast "Have a GREAT Summer!" In the football field behind it was a small collection of milling bodies and shiny instruments.
"See ya, Ange," Josh called, his trumpet case in his grip. "Thanks."
"Yeah," she said, frowning after him. Facing Issac, he shrugged.
"Thanks," he said, unbuckling his belt. "Are you picking us up? Practice ends at one."
"I don't know. Probably." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek sloppily. He cringed, shoving her away. "Have fun, kid."
Groaning, he rolled his eyes as he climbed out, but still waved at her before he hustled after his brother. Grinning, she pulled away, looking at the high school warily as she left, finding out that she could breathe easier once she was off the property.
Angela lazed around the house for about two weeks before she thought about getting a job. She figured she could work as a receptionist or something, like a secretary. She was better at communications that she was back in high school, and she'd watched three straight seasons of The Office. She figured she had a roundabout idea of what it would be like. Maybe even an office romance could bloom. She wondered what kinda shit her coworkers would talk about by the water cooler.
Three days of job searching, and she already had five call backs. It was funny like that – in a small town like Forks, it was easy to get hired when so many people knew you. But she figured it had something more to do with curiosity than a mini-reunion. She'd already been unloaded with thousands of questions:
"Where did you go?"
"What was college like?"
"What did you study?"
"Did you study abroad?"
"Did you get a tattoo?"
"Why did you come back?"
Angela usually warded off most questions with a shake of her head, or a shrug. Sometimes they would catch her off guard. Why did she come back? For her family? Her friends? She spent the fourth day that she was supposed to spend job searching locked in her room, watching The Office.
The fifth day, she finally accepted a job at a coffee and book shop. It was supposed to be like one of those cute and chic places – you could tell how hard the owners had tried to make it seem like the coolest place for young kids to hang out. Indie music swelled from the speakers, and there was even a fire place crowded with love seats and bean bags. It was a sensory overload, like everything from 2008-on puked in the building.
None of it had worked, and the only people that came were people in their late thirties and up. Most came in with black horn-rimmed glasses and Converses, sipping on herbal tea with books about Indian gods tucked under their arms. They tried so hard to be young again that it was like a shield that warded off anyone younger than thirty-five. Angela was one of them, but she liked the music and the coffee was okay, so she took the job. At least nobody she knew would ever dare walk into a place like this.
The owners were a couple from some Native American tribe that she didn't catch, but the name of the store was from their language – Kwoli, or "Wolf," Kafe They wore black shirts and khakis, the required uniform. She got a name badge, which she showed off to her parents the night she got back from her first day of work.
"Ange? Not Angela?" Her father winked at her, and she shrugged.
"They said that they want nicknames to promote a 'chill environment.' So it's Ange." She wasn't sure exactly how she felt about complete strangers calling her Ange, but she figured it wasn't so bad. At least the people that came in were nice to her.
Angela guessed she was the only one that was under thirty, because all of her coworkers that she met during her first week all had scratchy beards and gray streaks in their hair. Kieran and Blanca, the owners, showed her how to clean the toilets and sort the books. Who knew that bathrooms could get so damn messy?—apparently adults couldn't hold in their six dollar cups of coffee very well.
Because Kwoli Kafe was more of a coffee house than an actual restaurant, people didn't tip. But there was a tip jar that some put their change in, and at the end of the night, they all split it up as evenly as possible. She always spent her tip on coffee to go, if she had enough, and by the time she got home she was wired enough to stay up late and read.
Her first check was decent, but not as much as she expected. She put it in her old bank account that she hadn't used since she was seventeen, and accidentally put it in savings. It took two hours with a cranky bank lady to move it to checking, and she remembered why she didn't use that same bank in Seattle.
"What's it like being an adult?" her father joked one night as Angela counted out her two-week earnings later that month.
"It fucking sucks." He laughed too hard to correct her for language.
Adjusting back to her life before college was like trying on a pair of shoes that you kicked in the bottom of your closet, found four years later, and tried to shove your feet back in. It was tight and awkward at first, but it adjusted and fit perfectly in the end.
Her father didn't make her go to church like he used to, and it was jarring for her to have the opportunity to choose. Especially if he was teaching. She went anyways, even if she'd heard all the same things a million times before, the true blessings of having a father as a minister. Lunches after church were the only times the family would go out, and she had actually missed greasy bacon and overcooked eggs.
"Have any plans, Angela?" her mother asked her.
"Well, first I'm going to finish these hot cakes. Then I'm going to move onto the bacon – "
"Don't be flip with me," she said, and Angela wasn't sure if she was joking or not. "I mean, are you going to visit your friends this week? You've been here for nearly a month."
And you already want to get rid of me? But she couldn't blame them. She'd watched so much of The Office that she'd started to act like Jim Halpert. And she'd started to spend more time in her room than outside of it, and she was pretty sure she hissed at the sunlight that shed in her room when her mother woke her up.
"I don't have any plans," she said, and felt like a loser. Her brothers were more social than she was, which was good, she guessed. They were young…er. They should experience high school friendships before excuses of college and work got in the way. Before Real Life.
"I heard that there was supposed to be a party this coming weekend," her mother said. Angela wasn't sure what was more disturbing: the fact that her fifty-year-old mother knew about a party when she didn't, or that her mother was encouraging her to go to said party. Maybe she really did watch too much of The Office.
"Just because there's a party this weekend doesn't mean I, A, know anybody there, or B, am even invited. I think I work that night, too."
"Oh, poo." Her mother's rings flashed as she tossed them absurdly in the air, and Angela squinted against the rainbow rays. "It's Sheriff Swan's girl. Or her boyfriend, I can't remember."
"That's like saying because I'm best friend with somebody's uncle's cousin's mom, I can go to their party. Can you imagine how lame it would be if I showed up, uninvited?" She pierced her eggs with her fork as if to make a point.
"But you were."
"Oh." She couldn't really put Bella past the whole "formal invitation" thing, because it kind of was her thing. "Did you really read through my mail?"
"No. It was on your phone."
Angela tried to breathe deeply. It wasn't uncommon for her mother to read her texts when she was in high school, but she was twenty-three-years-old. There had to be a stopping point.
Taking out her phone slowly, her anger washed away when she read the text.
hey, it's bella! just curious if u wanted to go to a party 4 my boyfriend's birthday. it's this friday 7pm at a camp site & there will be s'mores! text me back if ur interested :)
She reread it a couple more times before her mother cleared her throat. "No taking your phone out during family meals, Angela."
She didn't even protest and grinned as she sipped at her water.
"So?" her mother continued to insist. "Are you going or not?"
"I don't know. Maybe." But her decision was already final when she text Bella back underneath the table.
"This is weird."
Angela laughed at the way Kyle extended his arms around himself, as if he were trapped in a box. "You're weird."
"Yeah. But you like it." He dropped his arms from his mime impression to wiggle his brows. It looked like he had gotten his hair cut since the last time she'd seen him – which was over a month ago – and it made her miss him even more.
"Nice haircut," she said, sipping at her tea. As if he had just discovered it himself, he drifted his hand over the top of it.
"Yeah. It looks better with gel in it, though."
"Gross."
"What?" The corner of his mouth was curled slightly.
"Gel's gross. It feels gross."
"Well, you're not here to feel it, now are you?" Even though he was joking, the mood dipped a moment before he quickly went on. "So, how's Knives?"
"Forks," she said, rolling her eyes. "And it's…the same. Which is good and bad."
"How can something be both good and bad?"
"Well, like – nothing's changed. It's comforting, but jarring. Like… Nothing I do will make it different. It'll always be in its own green little world." She looked at her fingers as they ran along the edge of her cup while she said this.
"Huh. Well, Jose is still the same. Loud and annoying. One sec." Taking his laptop in his hands, she got a wonderful shot of the front of his shirt a moment before being moved around to face Kyle. The posters in his room served as a backdrop as he leaned against the headboard of his bed. "That's better. Now I can see your beautiful face. Or you can see mine."
Angela snorted.
"Hey, you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
He squinted at her behind his glasses. "You don't look fine."
"I told you I'm fine. I'm okay." She paused, curling a strand of hair behind her ear. "I just miss you."
Kyle's perplexed expression reformed into his signature cocky smile. "Me, too. Well. I mean, I miss you, too, Ange. But if I were you, I'd miss me, too." He laughed while Angela grinned through it, crisscrossing her legs on her chair.
"So… Anything new?" she asked.
"Nah. My dad is making me do work, though. Not filing-papers-work, but electrical-wiring-and-roofing-work. Fucking sucks." He shook his head. "Pays good, though. I got a new Play Station."
"Now you have a lot of free time to play on it, huh?"
"Hey, now, I wasn't on it all the time at State." She gave him a look. "Right, okay, let me defend myself – "
"We had to medically remove the console from your hand at one point during Christmas break."
"That was one time – "
"It was during New Year's Eve. During the ball drop. Pretty sure that counts for two days."
"Right, right, you're right – where in the hell would I be without you?" His hand extended out to her as he pulled a dramatic face. She laughed, covering her mouth so she didn't wake her parents.
"That reminds me!" Kyle said before launching into a story about some old man he saw at Wal-Mart that was part hilarious and part disgusting. Their entire conversation centered around San Jose, and when they finally said their good nights, Angela was exhausted. She fell asleep before realizing she hadn't even told him about her new job.
Angela had worked at Kwoli Kafe for over two weeks before they finally moved her up front. They still expected her to pick up dirty dishes and clean up spills, but as far as she was concerned, she was one of them. Even if they didn't exactly treat her like an adult all of the time.
Her coworkers were nice to her, just sometimes too sugary sweet. Because she was considered the "baby" of the workplace family, she was often overlooked, but adored. It helped that she was cute, but it was annoying. She could take care of herself and didn't need to have every single thing explained to her.
Being at the bottom of the food chain meant picking up after messy costumers. It wasn't all that bad, because sometimes if she was lucky, they tipped her.
But on a rainy Tuesday night, without many tips and not being able to stay behind the counter for very long, before one of her managers, Gage, pushed her aside to clean up the dining area. Keeping to herself, she managed to clean off one table before someone walked in.
Her eyes shot up, curious because even though they closed at eleven; no one came in after ten. Usually all of their costumers went to bed early every evening for work. Somebody coming in at this time of night was uncommon.
However, this was no normal costumer. At first, she thought it was some teenager that just came in to cause a ruckus, but by the height of him, Angela could tell he was no teenager. His shoulders were double in length of an average man's, and his mere height would likely make her crane her neck back if she stood close enough.
Keeping her head down, she averted her eyes before he could notice her staring. Staring? She wasn't staring. Just admiring. Shit, that sounds creepy.
Wiping off the table surface, she overheard his order and moved quickly away from the cleaned table before he could come over. She berated herself for being so weird - it wasn't as if he was going to hurt her. But that wasn't exactly the kind of feeling she was experiencing. It was more anxious, or nervous, like she was waiting for something to happen.
It didn't take long, because before she knew it, he was walking by her, or rather to the table she had just cleaned. She paused and looked up, the breath held in her lungs escaping in a rush.
His eyes were beautiful, and it was obvious that he was of some kind of Native American descent. It didn't help her concentration when she noticed how good he smelt. Not anything over powering or intense, just a nice soft smell. Like the ocean.
"Sorry," he said.
"S'okay." She tried to get around him, but he went the same way. They did it again, and she laughed passed her annoyance. "I'm going to the right."
He grinned back, and it made all in the air in her chest escape all in one blow. "I'll go left." His voice was deep, yet somehow higher than she would have thought. Maybe he was younger?
They walked awkwardly past each other, and she noticed he sat down at the table she just cleaned. He sat there while she cleaned, all under Gage's "watchful" eyes - which were hidden underneath his baseball cap. Molly, the eldest woman, kicked his chair at least ten times, but the noise served as a broken alarm clock. Her eyes were too bad to really pay attention to what went on around her, but she could tell if Gage was sleeping on the job in a split second.
Grabbing an old bus boy bin, Angela began to make her rounds on the tables in the café.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" She turned around, and nodded over her shoulder. Her face was red and sweaty, and she probably smelled like B.O. and coffee beans, and she was surprised that he was talking to her at all. He didn't even cringe as she walked closer to him.
"Sure."
He pointed behind her. "Is everything on that bookshelf weird as hell, or is it just me?"
She snorted, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, it is weird. I mean, who wants to know about all the different kinds of fungus out there while sipping on a mocha?" She shrugged. "I just think they cleared out all of the unloved books from the discount section in Barnes-N-Noble."
He grinned, and she appreciated his smile. It was nice and warm. She looked away, moving to continue her last dreadful task before clocking off. Thankfully, or unthankfully, he interrupted her again.
"Ange?" he read off the name tag. "What's that short for, Angela?"
"No. It's short for Anglerfish." She cringed instantly, looking around. Jesus, if one of her managers had heard her…
Her blooming worries were squandered by the short burst of laughter that escaped the man's mouth. "I'm Paul."
"Nice to meet you… Paul." He nodded back, and she shifted her weight. "Sorry about the…Anglerfish joke. It wasn't really even a joke. I was just being stupid." It was a crappy apology, but he waved it away
"Nah, don't worry about it. It was kinda funny – Anglerfish. That's clever." Angela shrugged. "So, Ange. I haven't seen you here before?"
"You…come here a lot?"
He didn't look like the kind of guy who listened to mopey indie bands or dressed like a scarf-wearing lumberjack. He was actually incredibly tidy-looking, with a clean shaved face, cropped hair, and a watch. What kind of guy wore a watch anymore, anyways? Maybe he always had somewhere to be.
"Nope. First time here." He grinned, but it was a quirky kind of grin. It was almost sarcastic. "And I meant I haven't seen you around here, meaning Forks."
"I live here. I've just been at Seattle for a few years."
"For college?"
"Yeah. UW."
"What'd you go to school for?" It wasn't so much the questions he was asking her that caught her off guard, it was the intensity he had in his eyes when he asked, as if he was honestly curious and not just asking to gossip to his friends about her later like everybody else.
"English." At his look, she elaborated. "Bachelors in Literature."
His eye brow cocked. "So…what?"
"What?"
"I mean, why are you working here? Do they let you read up on their incredibly interesting books about elephantitis and do book clubs on how to make a voodoo doll?"
Angela shrugged, picking up a plate and coffee cup from the table next to him. She frowned at the spill on the floor that the costumers didn't bother to tell her about before they left. It would stain the carpet.
"Right, okay," Paul said. "Don't want to reveal the real reason why. I get it." She looked at him from over her glasses. He leaned in closer, a crook in the corner of his lips. "It's the erotica they keep in the back, isn't it?"
Angela sniggered, and she noticed the tips of his ears go red. He wanted her to laugh, but she was unsure on how to receive the joke. Her laughter died down and she looked away. She could feel him still staring at her.
Feeling self-conscious, she cleared her throat. "It's just for now."
"Pretty small place; don't think they pay that well." He didn't have the right to know, but her mouth moved before she could stop it.
"I live with my parents. It's just…extra money."
He had that look that made it seem like she was too wealthy to work in "real life." Which wasn't the case, though she did live in one of the nicer neighborhoods in Forks. But that didn't mean she couldn't be a functioning member of society.
"Times are tough, I guess."
Angela sucked in her breath and gritted her teeth. It wasn't like she was destined to stay there forever, to serve forty-year-old hipsters who didn't understand that you can't wear a tie with a plaid shirt. She was proud of herself for holding her tongue, but still felt guilty when she bit out, "So, what'd you go to college for then?"
"I didn't go to college."
"Oh." It fell out before she could hold her tongue, but it was said, and she felt horrible. But it wasn't exactly unheard of for Native Americans to not go to college. It wasn't racist, she justified within herself. It was the truth, and it was just something they decided not to do. But still… "So, what do you do now?"
"Construction. I help out the general contractor. I call people who call people." He laughed gently, scratching his neck. "Still can't read a blue print, though."
Angela nodded politely, and they fell in silence. She wondered how she could know so much about a stranger in under five minutes, or how he could know so much about her. He could be a murderer for all she knew, but she knew that wasn't the case at all. She wasn't sure how to explain it, but she had a very settled and comfortable feeling about him.
Taking the last of the trash, she heard Gage call out for her. As the one costumer in the shop, they all had to wait for him to leave before they could start to leave, too. Gage moved to clock her off when she heard Molly call, "Come back to see us soon!"
Turning, she watched as Paul walked out of the glass door, not looking back. Her heart dipped to see him leaving, but shook herself out of it.
"You sure you'll be okay?" she asked. Gage and Molly were closing together, and though Gage could be annoying, he had a terrible memory. No one would likely forget when he'd tried to roast tea bags instead of coffee beans.
"Yeah, we'll be fine. I won't kill her, and she won't kill me. I hope."
Collecting her things, she pulled out her phone while stepping outside. The sun set later this time of year, and she was able to soak up a bit of the sun that peaked through the clouds while she climbed into her car to drive home.
A/N: The main difference in this AU is that Bella and Jacob are together. Edward never came back. This is also set in 2012, four years after Breaking Dawn was published, for time line purposes.
Many thanks to my friends who have read it over before its publication. Reviews are appreciated.